Saturday, Uptown, 8/12, 2-5 pm

This Saturday’s uptown wine tasting will indeed feature the “Black Sheep” of the wine family. Andre Mack, Sommelier turned wine maker, who was lovingly referred to as “black sheep” by his friends, capitalized on the name and founded his company Mouton Noir (“black sheep” in French). While the name Mouton Noir makes reference to Mack’s minority status in the largely Caucasian dominated field of winemaking it also derives from his rather cheeky approach in an otherwise austere wine community. He designs the labels on his bottles, many of which poke fun at wine culture. They portray both respect and a fond sense of humor about the history, tradition and elitism of wine culture. O.P.P. (Other People’s Pinot) was one of the first wines that Mouton Noir sold. Mack boldly asserts that “At the end of the day, it’s just grape juice.” He then goes on to say, “No one needs anything that I make. The last thing we need is another wine on the shelf. So that just makes me grateful for the people who do enjoy it.” Mack maintains that Mouton Noir is about a lifestyle borrowing from Hip Hop and the skateboard culture of Generation X. Before becoming a winemaker Mack began his career as a waiter in Texas Steak House restaurant. It was there he found his passion for wine and food pairing. It is rather impressive to know that Mack is self-taught. With an uncompromising work ethic and hours spent reading every wine book he could get his hands on, Mack worked his way up to wine director to two of the most prestigious restaurants in the world, French Laundry and Per Se. Six months into his career as a Sommelier Mack was given the honorable distinction of being first African American to be awarded The Best Youngest Sommelier in America in 2003. We are pleased to be featuring Mack’s wines this Saturday at our uptown winetasting.